


Not so one night stand

by RamenIsMyKryptonite



Category: Criminal Minds (US TV)
Genre: Abuse, Baby, Drug Abuse, F/M, Family, Love, One Night Stands, Police, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Protective Spencer, Trust Issues, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-08-25
Packaged: 2020-09-26 15:02:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,635
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20391625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RamenIsMyKryptonite/pseuds/RamenIsMyKryptonite
Summary: Spencer wakes up in an unexpected situation, one that's going to change the rest of his life.





	1. Chapter 1

The first thing Spencer saw when he woke up, was hair, and it wasn't his hair. His nose had been pressed into the strawberry blond waves, a heavy weight on his chest as he breathed in the smell of strawberries and alcohol. It was a predicament that he never saw himself in, one that he didn't know how to get out of. He recalled her name vaguely though the drums in his mind, Layla, a last name didn't come to mind. He thought about trying to lift her off of him but when he moved, even slightly, her arms wrapped around his tighter and she murmured incoherent syllables that seemed to be in protest.

Spencer couldn't remember how he ended up here, he couldn't think of what they spoke about the night before, one thing he knew for sure, was that this was, other then last night, he'd never seen the girl before now.

After a few seconds, he realized why he woke up in the first place. His phone was vibrating on the nightstand. The consistent buzzing seemed to be waking her as well, her sounds became more alert and he could feel the change in her breathing.

"What…?" It took her less then a second from opening her eyes for her to register what happened. The bed wasn't large enough for her reaction, causing her to fall from the bed onto his floor, taking the blanket with her. Spencer was thankful to realize that he was wearing boxers and he couldn't tell what she was wear or not wearing from the way blankets were wrapped around her.

Spencer was speechless himself, let alone figure out if he should calm her down or if he should just let her come to conclusions on her own. "Did we….?" Her opened ended questions held all the answers she needed. It wasn't like it took much imagination to figure it out, the fact that she saw her dress hanging off the dresser and her shoes had been tossed to opposite sides of the room nailed the coffin shut.

The next few seconds were of Spencer trying to calm the girl down as she threw her clothes on and ran out of his apartment. She repeatedly apologized as she did this, it looked like she was about to cry, and Spencer was so unprepared for his, not to mention he was hungover and still half asleep. Within five minuets her things were gone and so was she. Spencer had followed her to the door, but she had ignored his calls after her and all he could do was shut his apartment door and move to see what his phone was doing.

The bright lights of the briefing room only made his head pound worse. He nursed his coffee as the rest of his team slowly filed in. His thought continued to move back to the girl. He'd never thought about one-night stands or how one was to respond to them. He felt bad, Layla obviously wasn't happy about and from what he was able to remember from the night before, she'd been pretty drunk.

"How'd your night go?" Morgan's voice was suggestive, Spencer remembered Morgan being at the bar with him, "I noticed you left early. The bartender said you left with a girl." He raised his eyebrows. Spencer felt his face redden, and he looked away from the other agent. Morgan laughed at him. "You go back to her place or yours."

"I'm pretty sure we have a case to work on." Spencer said.

"Everyone is waiting on Hotch to get here at the coffee maker. Come one man."

"My place, she ran out this morning."

"Ran?"

"And apologized profusely, she didn't let me say anything."

"Yeah…" Morgan sighs, "that happens sometimes." Spencer shook his head, thankful that J.J. came into the room, saving him from further questions.

"Layla!" Marissa's voice carried though the locker room as Layla finished pulling down her shirt. Marissa appeared around the corner where Layla's locker sat. She preferred to change in the very back corner of the locker room that people had to go out of there way to find.

"Jacob is looking for you." Layla's mood fell slightly, not that she was feeling very good before. She adjusted the orange spandex shorts as she moved to follow Marissa out of the locker room. Jacob never called for them unless they were in trouble. The other girls called him the watchdog, the other managers didn't bring him into the picture unless they needed him to bark at the end of the chain

Jacob's office was at the end of the hallway right before the main dining room. He was sitting at his computer, his head held up by his hand as he focused on his screen. Layla knocked at the door even though it was already opened, she didn't like walking into people's spaces unless she had their explicit permission, a left-over habit from her childhood, one that's served her well. He glanced up from the computer and nodded her inside.

"Can you shut the door behind you?" He asked, his voice wasn't as harsh as it normally was when he calls people into his office. Layla herself has never been called in. She always did her best to avoid trouble, just doing her job and leaving. "Have a seat." He said, nodding to the chair in front of his desk.

"Have I done something?" She tried to keep her voice respectful, she couldn't tell if she succeeded.

"No, its nothing you've done…One of the other girls brought something to my attention and I just wanted to address it with you in private." He cleared his throat. Layla saw the seriousness in his eyes and she squirmed underneath the gaze. "Due to the nature of our restaurant, we do attract a certain type of customer, I know you understand that right?" Layla nodded, "but that doesn't mean we will allow our employees to feel uncomfortable or unsafe while they're on the clock." Layla suddenly understood what he was talking about.

Her parents had come into the restaurant a week before. It wasn't the first time they came into her workplace to harass her, Layla normally did her best to not let their presence bother her, just ignoring them typically worked, they would get annoyed and leave, but that time had been different. They managed to work their way into her section and she had a break down in the locker room. She should have known someone would tell a manager.

"I want you to know, if you ever feel unsafe or uncomfortable with a customer, you can tell us, and we'll handle the situation accordingly, whether we have someone take over the table or we remove the customer." Layla nodded.

"I…" She didn't want to spill her entire life story with his man. "That…" She sighed, "that situation was brought on by those specific people." It still wasn't how she wanted to explain it, but it was the most coherent thing she could spit out of her mouth. "It won't happen again." She added quickly.

"Unless those people come back in…?"

She inhaled sharply. "Right."

"Okay then, if they come back. Just let someone know and we will make sure its properly taken care of. May I ask who the people were?" Layla thought about it, and figured she should probably tell him, that way he would be prepared if they did come back in.

"They're my parents, I cut off contact with them when I was 18, but they don't…. they go out of their way to mess with me despite my attempts to stay away from them." Layla could tell that he wanted to know more but Layla's face was clear, she didn't want to speak more about it so he dismissed her from the office and she thanked him. When she left the room, she blew out the breath she'd been holding. She knew that it wasn't that bad, she'd been in the opposite of trouble, but it was still confrontation. It didn't help that she was still reeling from what happened that morning.

It wasn't like her to sleep with a random man, it was like her to sleep with anyone, period. What made it worse was how she couldn't remember how she got there. She remembered meeting him at the bar, she remembered thinking he was sweet, and he bought her a few drinks. They debated Shakespeare and that's when things began to blur, she remembered talking about a few more books before her memory went black until she woke up in bed with him.

She was embarrassed about her reaction, if she could redo it. She would have calmly explained that what happened was a mistake, he probably thought she was crazy. All she could hope was that she never saw him again. Not that that made it any better.

"Everything okay?" Marissa caught her as she was putting an order into the system.

"Yeah." Layla said quickly, hitting the enter key and turning away from the machine, pushing her note pad into her little apron. She tightly smiled, "I'm fine, just a little hung over." Marissa smirked.

"I'm sure. I lost you last night. Anything…. interesting happen?" Layla was thankful for her concealer at that moment. If it could cover the dark circles under her eyes, then it could hide the bright red blush that she could feel creeping over her face. Marissa knew her to well though.

"What's his name?"

"I have tables."

"They can wait for five seconds. Come on! I've known you for over five years and you've never even looked at a guy for longer than five seconds, I was beginning to think you were hiding in the closet! Layla's jaw opened slightly.

"Just because I don't ogle, doesn't mean I'm gay, it means I'm respectful!"

"Whatever, name?" Marissa crossed her arms over her chest. Layla would have moved around her if Marissa wasn't directly in Layla's way. Layla bit the inside of her lip and squirmed under someone's gaze for the second time today.

"It starts with an S…" Marissa's eyes widened significantly.

"You don't remember his name?"

"Remember whose name?" Jacky came up behind Marissa, more then likely to put in her own order.

"My taxi driver's name." Layla said, pushing around Marissa, hurrying to her tables before Marissa was able to catch up with her and demand details. "Just a few more hours..." Layla mumbled to herself. "Then you can curl up in a ball and forget today ever happened."


	2. Chapter 2

Spencer couldn't decide if his slight obsession with the girl was because it was the first time he ever slept with a woman, no strings attached, or if it was the memories that kept coming back to him about the night before she ran out of his apartment. The only serious black out moments that Spencer could recall having were from when he was abducted by Tobias Hankel moments, those memories were still coming back in small snippets, much like his night with Layla came back.

After a few days he remembered some of their conversation. She'd been at a birthday party for one of her coworkers he'd found her at the bar, slightly overwhelmed by the amount of people that were pushing though the area. He sat with her for a little while, whatever started the conversation still hadn't come back to him, but he remembered her going on a long rant about Macbeth and how she found the play to be overrated and anticlimactic. Of course, he argued with her on it for a little while, his points against her claim made her laugh. He couldn't remember what got them back to his apartment, as much as he searched his mind, he tried going back to the bar to trigger it, but nothing helped. It was driving him crazy. It didn't help that he could still smell the scent of her hair in his bedroom. He knew that he was imagining it, wishful thinking, but just because he knew it wasn't real didn't mean it felt fake. He wanted to see her again, he wanted to know her last name, he wanted to know more then the smell of her shampoo or her distaste of Macbeth.

"Dude." Morgan's voice sounded annoyed and slightly concerned. Spencer's eyes snapped to him, they'd decided to get lunch together on their hour break. "Can you stop tapping your fork on the table?" Spencer hadn't noticed his movements and the sound they were making. "It's just Hooters."

"No…. that's not it." He shook his head. Morgan's face took on a look of understanding.

"You're still thinking about the girl, aren't you?" Spencer didn't answer him. "Dude, it was a one-night stand, you're not supposed to dwell on it and overthink everything."

"I'm not overthinking anything."

"It been almost two months and you're still thinking about her." Spencer turned towards the menu even though he'd already read it other. He did it more as an excuse to not answer the other man.

The restaurant was busy, granted it was the lunch rush, but Spencer felt like it had more to do with clothing the waitresses were wearing. Even Morgan seemed to be enjoying the view of some of the girls that passed them. One of them had already taken their drink orders because their waitress seemed to be running a few minutes late. Spencer didn't think anything of it until the same strawberry blond rushed though the front door and into the back of the restaurant where he assumed the locker room was. Morgan watched Spencer's eyes follow the girl, they widened in recognition and Spencer froze when she disappeared from sight.

"That's not her." Morgan said, shaking his head at the chances of it.

"No, that's her." It took her less than five minutes for her to come out of the room and back onto the floor. She had changed into her own uniform and had a notepad in hand. The waitress that had taken their drink orders went up to her and handed her a different notepad and Layla replaced hers with it. They spoke for a quick second Layla attempted to brush her off, her face told both agents that whatever the other girl was saying, it was nothing Layla wanted to partake in. The girl grabbed her arm when Layla went to move around her, she raised her eyebrows, waiting for Layla to answer whatever question she asked.

"Yes! Okay!" Layla snapped at her, her voice loud enough for the two men to hear. Layla flinched at the volume of her voice, her shoulders shrinking down a little as she glanced around to see if anyone heard her. She said something else to the girl before moving to her tables.

"Looks like you've got your chance man." Morgan said, mostly amused.

"Chance? What are you talking about?"

"You've been nonstop thinking about this girl right? This it your chance to ask her out."

"Why would I ask her out?" Morgan sighed at Spencer's confused face.

"Because, you like her. And when a guy likes a girl, he asks her out. What's the worse that can happen?"

"She says no."

"Rejection is a part of life kid, something that you just gotta learn to live with." Morgan took a sip of his drink as Spencer thought it over. "She's headed this way." Spencer started tapping the table again, much to Morgan's annoyance, but Morgan didn't comment on it.

"Hi I'-" The look she gave Spencer said she remembered exactly who he was. She stuttered for a few seconds before regaining her composure. "I'm Layla and I'll be your waitress. Are you guys ready to order?" Her smile was beyond forced and her foot was tapping rapidly. Morgan looked between her tapping foot and Spencer's tapping fingers.

"I think a we need a few more minutes." Morgan said after it became apparent that Spencer wasn't going to say anything. He smiled at her and she didn't question it before hurrying off to another table. "You gotta say something man."

"You're the one that wants me to ask her out. And I don't think she's in a good mood."

"No, you want to ask her out. You've been obsessing over her for the last two months and she didn't seem that put off. Nervous? Yes, but trust me, I've experienced far worse reactions after seeing some of the woman I've slept with for a second time."

"I'm not you! I don't have one-night stands, I don't even know what was going through my mind that night to take her back to my apartment."

"You were hammered." Morgan said calmly, trying to calm him down enough so he wasn't talking loud enough for the other patrons to hear him. "Your judgement was impaired, it happens to the best of us. You like her though right?"

"I barely remember what happened that night."

"What do you remember?"

"We argued about Macbeth."

"Macbeth?"

"Shakespeare. She was talking about how Macbeth and his wife were serious cowards and that the whole story was unclimactic and predictable-"

"So, she knows Shakespeare, that's a point her in favor right?"

"It's not about points, you-"

"Reid, how often do you get a girl stuck in your head? The fact that you're caught up like you are says that there's something special about her and I'm not going to let you ignore it." Morgan waved Layla down, nodding her over.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm hungry." Layla was chewing on the inside of her cheek as Morgan relayed his order, she wrote it down quickly. She turned to Spencer, but she wouldn't meet his eyes. She waited, pen to paper and it took Spencer several moments to spit the order out and she almost ran away from them again. Morgan shook his head at Spencer and chuckled slightly.

000

"Layla."

"Marissa, now is really not the time." Layla picked up the food for table six as Marissa attempted to corner her. Layla was having a hard time thinking straight and the fact that the man was sitting in her section wasn't making it any easier.

"I know, but like….do you know for sure? Like Dr Sure?" Marissa's voice was anxious, and Layla shut her eyes tightly.

"Yes, blood work and everything." Layla turned around, trying to balance all of the food on her arms but two dishes were left over.

"I got those." Marissa grabbed them and walked with Layla to the table. "But, that was the first time in awhile right?"

"They say it only takes one time." Layla said tightly. "But I can't worry about that at the moment. Between work and making sure the house is ready for him when they release him from the hospital tomorrow morning, I don't have time to worry about this or think about it." Layla smiled at the large group at the table as she set everything down. One of the older men winked at her and she kept her smile on her face.

"Thank you baby." Layla brushed her ponytail over her shoulder.

"Of course. Let me know if you need anything else."

"But you need to think about it because its literally going to change your life. Are you going to tell the guy?" Layla's eyes flicked to the man sitting at the table, the one she was trying to avoid even though it was her job to keep track of them. He was looking at her too, his eyes moved away when she met his gaze.

"I don't know what I'm going to do." Marissa followed her gaze.

"That's him?"

"Marissa, please can we talk about it after work?"

"If I let you wait until then, you'll think of a better reason to keep putting it off." Marissa lowered her voice due to some nosy people at the table a few feet away from them. "I know you're scared, and you have every right to be, but you're not alone. You have me, Noah, Angela, Linda, your grandfather, and everyone else."

"Seriously, I can't handle it right now. I just…"

"Do you want me to take the table?" Layla thought about it but decided against it.

"No, I already feel bad about running away from him without talking after it happened. It would be rude."

"You liked him though, right."

"I mean, he was sweet at the bar but…I don't know, what if he was acting? Just because he wanted to sleep with me."

"I highly doubt he would have debated the marrets of Macbeth if he was just trying to get in your pants. And you need someone else to talk books with, I can't keep hearing you one sided rants when I don't know if they're real people or not. Getting angry at fictional characters that upset you has been draining."

"It's not that bad."

"Still. You need someone to be a dork with. Now you need someone to help raise your dork child."

The mention of a child caused the panic to come back. "I have no idea what do to. I am in no way, shape, or form deserving to have a child, but I can't stand the thought of an abortion and, having been bounced around the system, I can't risk putting a child though that by putting them up for adoption. So, I either suck it up and abort it, or I have the kid and fuck it up like my parents did to me."

"You are nothing like your parents Layla. Your parents are narcissistic, inconsiderate, drug addicted pieces of shit. They do nothing but try and kill and kind of happiness you try to have in your life. Don't let them take something that is supposed to be exciting, yes babies can be exciting, and ruin it, just because you're worried about turning into them." Marissa said, "because, I promise you. You won't be like them." Layla wiped at her eyes angerly. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine."

"Then let's get back to work. Then we can go to my place and we can binge watch zombie moves and draw on Noah's face after he passes out." Layla giggled at the thought, her mood lighting slightly. Their conversation ended just in time, because Jacob was coming out of his office and he didn't like it when they slacked off and talked.

Layla still didn't know how to handle the two men at table three, but she forced her smile on her face once again and went to get their food.

"Alright, a double bacon burger." She set it down in front of the man whom she hadn't see before today. "And a salad." She was trying to remember his name. She knew it started with an 's' but she didn't want to ask. It made her feel terrible that she couldn't remember. What did that say about her, she couldn't even remember the name of the man that got her pregnant.

"Thank you." She said. Steve….no that wasn't it.

"Of course. Would you guys like anything else?" She was feeling slightly more comfortable but still. Shawn…. no. It was something smarter…. It was driving her crazy.

"Yeah…" The other man said, leaning back in his chair. He gave S a look, nodding to Layla. When it became clear that S wasn't going to say anything he sighed. "I think my buddy here would like a chance to get to know you, while you're both…. sober." S had been tapping the table excessively.

"I…I" S stuttered. "You don't have to do that…" His face was growing red and Layla was once again thankful for her concealer. "I don't want to bother you-" Layla herself was at a loss for words. She normally wasn't good in social settings. It took her a very long time to get comfortable in customer service. But her act with customers was exactly that, an act.

"Ummm."

"She would love that." Marissa's voice sounded behind her. The Man smiled. "How about a movie on Saturday night?" Layla turned and gave her friend the dirtiest look she could muster, and from some of the looks that had been sent her way growing up, she had plenty of examples to chose from.

"That sounds perfect." The man said, causing S to sputter. Marissa wrote something down on her pad of paper before ripping it out and handing it to S.

"Here's her number, she likes nerdy movies." S took it tentatively. "Pick her up at 7, she'll send you the address." Layla was then dragged away by Marissa to another table that had been trying to get her attention.

"I don't even remember his name." Layla growled to her once they were out of hearing distance.

"Well, you have two days to figure it out. Maybe he'll text it to you."


	3. Chapter 3

Layla pulled at the rack in her oven, one hand covered in an oven mitt, the other one holding a cake pan. She had about 18 hours before she needed to get her grandfather, Eliot, from the hospital and she was hoping the cake would be finished by then. She ended up canceling the movie night with Marissa, using the 'not feeling good' excuse that she's been using for the last few weeks, and decided to hole up in her house. She didn't want to talk about the impending date, both the one with the guy and the other one being a due date.

Two out of four dogs, Orion and Sirius, that Layla has were sniffing around her feet, looking for any food that Layla might have dropped for them. They were pressing against her legs, normally she would have them blocked off in the living room, so she didn't have to trip over them but tonight she was a little on edge, having them near her was making her feel better. Layla had adopted them while volunteering at the shelter the year before.

Orion was by far the more adjusted dog out of the two. He loved Layla, but he didn't need to be pressed against her at every second but Sirius on the other hand. If Layla wasn't touching him while she was in the same room, he would cry and whine until she did.

Layla did everything she could to break the clinginess, but he just wouldn't have it. The shelter figured that whoever owned him beforehand had tried to raise him as a fighting dog but when he was too nice, the dropped him off on the side of the road. It made Layla upset whenever she thought about it and just decided to deal with his needs and let him cling to her.

Layla's third dog, Leo, was a German Shepard that her grandfather got her right after talking Layla in at the advice of her therapist. He was happily sleeping on the couch, snoring away. And the forth one that she lovingly named Argos was a Saarloos Wolfhound that she got from one of her grandfather's friends a few months ago and he had already doubled in size. He was trying to wake up Leo, chewing on his ears and mouth but the older dog wasn't having it and just ignored him.

Once the cake was in the oven, she got to work on making the frosting, grabbing her ingredients and portioning them so it wouldn't be such a mess when she finished. She'd just grabbed the bowl from the counter when her phone started going off. The sudden noise made her jump and she dropped the bowl onto the counter, thankfully it didn't break, but it almost gave her a heart attack.

A number that she hadn't recognized was on the screen and she debated on answering. Her parents got a new number every time she blocked the last one, but it could also be the hospital about her grandfather. "Hello?"

"Hey…It's Spencer." Spencer! Damn, I should have remembered that!

"Hi!" She berated herself for her tone, it sounded like she'd been standing by the phone, waiting for the call. She was just excited that she finally had his name.

"Sorry, I'm not a fan of texting." He said, "I prefer to call."

"That's fine. I'm kind of the same way." Layla continued to work on the frosting, the phone pressed between her ear and her shoulder.

"I uh….I looked at the movies that are out, but all of them are action movies-"

"That's okay, we don't have to go to the movies, dinner is okay."

"Dinner?" His voice was more excited at that point, "do you like Italian? There's a really good restaurant down town."

"Italian's good. I'm not picky, anything you want is good." Layla finished up the frosting and started on the fondant. Layla was practically breathing the awkwardness, she didn't know how to break it and she wasn't sure if he did either. "I'm sorry about running away like that before, I'm not really good in those…those type of situations. I get really anxious and-"

"No, don't apologize. It's a natural response to run when someone gets scared, flight or fight."

"I've been trying to work on that, freaking out around new people, but it's been a slow…slow progression. I can't believe I even went home with you- I don't mean that offensively, it just takes me forever to get comfortable around people and I…" She was at a loss for words.

"It's really okay." Spencer said. Layla thought about how she would tell him about the impending kid. Would he leave? Demand she get an abortion. She didn't feel comfortable with not telling him. Mostly because when the kid was born, they would ask questions, want to know where their father was, and they would deserve to know. Unless he was a danger to them, she had no right to keep them from one another because she had problems.

The more Layla thought about dinner the more her stomach churned and vaulted around. Surprisingly, the smell of the baking cake wasn't making her sick. "Your friend, he seemed nice." Layla was just trying to get a conversation going, anything to break the tension.

"We work together."

"Really? What do you do? I know you mentioned it that night, but I can't remember anything really."

"I'm a part of the Behavioral Analysis Unit in the FBI. I help track down serial killers and rapists by examining their behavior and creating a profile and narrowing down the suspect pool."

"Really?" It peaked her interest, at the same time it freaked her out a little. She always turned the news off whenever they started talking about murder. She's been involved in enough violence in her life. "That sounds like it would be scary."

"It can be…but studying human behavior and understanding what makes someone do something and being able to predict what they're going to do makes it less scary."

"I don't know…" Layla said, "I…I don't know how." Layla didn't know how to say it without telling her life story to this man. "I'm just a bit of a whip, I have a hard time around violence."

"That doesn't make you a whip. In fact, most of the time, people who kill, do it because they are lacking some type of control. They either feel inferior and need to compensate for their short comings, or they feel the opposite and feel the need to put someone else, the victim, in their place. There are a lot of other factors that come into play, every unsub is different, but I find that to be a major correlation."

"So, the ones that need control, they're like playground bullies on steroids? You stand up to them and they either back down or become worse?"

"It depends. There's a lot that goes into it. Have you ever taken a psychology class?"

"No, I've always been more of a literary person. I wasn't allowed to really go anywhere as a kid, just school and home, so I would check out as many books as the school would let me and hid in my closet with a flashlight."

"Why weren't you allowed to go anywhere?"

"I…my parents were really….controlling. I wasn't even allowed to pick out my clothes for the day until I moved out." She regretted saying it the second it left her lips, thankfully Leo started going crazy at the front door, causing the other dogs to run and join. "Dinner, yeah. If you text me the name, I'll meet you there. I live a little ways out of town and you shouldn't have to drive all the way out here." She set down the frosting bag down on the counter.

"Okay, I can do that."

"I get off of work at 6:30, is 7 good?" Leo was jumping at the front door, his paws scratching at the wood.

"7 is great."

"Sweet. Sorry, my dogs are losing their minds, I gotta go. See you Saturday." She waited for him to say bye before she hung up the phone. Leo was still going crazy, but Layla grabbed him by the collar and pulled him away. She had to stand on her tip toes to see outside the peephole and she could make out the stocky build of her father outside the door, his fist lifting up to bang on it as she pressed her eye to the small window. He made three sharp raps on the door causing her to jump back.

She made sure the door was locked as she moved away from the wooden barrier. Layla figured he wouldn't try to get in with all the barking and growling. He was a cruel man, but he wasn't a stupid one.

"Layla, open the door." Sirius followed her back into the kitchen, the island separating the living room where the front door was, and the kitchen. She could see the door plainly and she was happy that she had closed all the curtains around the time it started getting dark. "Open the fucking door." Leo was growling at that door, his fur prickling, lips pulled back exposing his teeth. Eric shook the door knob and Layla had to close her eyes and take three large deep breaths. If he said one more thing or pulled at the door harder, she would call the police, just like her grandfather told her to do, just like she did last time.

"I know you're in there, all the lights are on! You think I'm fucking stupid?" The door shook again.

"Okay Layla, everything's going to be okay." Layla said to herself, Sirius nosed at her hand that wasn't dialing 911. She sunk down to the floor, her back pressed against the island, that way he wouldn't see her right away, not that the dogs would let him get that far. "Just a regular day."

"911, what's your emergency?" Layla rattled off her address.

"My father is banging on my front door in a violet manner, he's already been told by the police not to come onto the property the last time he was escorted off."

"Alright, I dispatched an officer. Are you safe?"

"At the moment, yes. I have four large dogs. I fear for his safety if he gets inside the house."

"Layla! I'm not going to tell you again!" His words were slightly slurred, and Layla closed her eyes tightly, her fingers wrapped inside Sirius's fur. Her panic medication was in her bedroom. The dog was helping though.

"The police will be there in a few minutes." The operator said soothingly. "I'll stay on the phone with you until they get there."

"Okay, everything's going to be okay." Layla said it to herself, over and over again until she heard the sound of sirens.


	4. Chapter 4

"Seriously?" Marissa's voice carried around the locker room as both girls changed back into their regular clothes. "He came to your house again? I thought the police told him they would arrest him for trespassing."

"They did but he posted bail yesterday morning after I picked Grandpa up from the hospital." Layla pulled a simple black flair dress down over her head, it wasn't anything special, but it would work for dinner tonight. "They set a court date for two weeks from now, Grandpa wants to try and get a restraining order."

"Damn right, you should have gotten a restraining order after Eliot won custody when you were 17." Marissa huffed and shook her head. Speaking of Eric always made her blood boil. "How he Eliot doing?"

"He's….he's got stage 3 lung cancer." Layla pulled her hair out of the ponytail in an attempt to distract herself. She had been trying to keep herself from dissolving into sobs all day, not that her added hormones were helping. It seemed like nothing was allowed to go right in her life. "The doctors gave him less then a year." Layla shoved her feet into her shoes, the black, platform wedges added five inches to her height, making her somewhat average size.

Marissa didn't know what to say, she had been expecting something like pneumonia or the flu, not cancer. "I'm sorry, that really sucks." She would have hugged Layla, but it was easy to see she was having a hard time keeping herself composed. "If you need anything, just let me know." Layla nodded, not trusting herself to speak. "Are you sure about dinner tonight? You've got a lot going on right now."

"You're the one that got me into it!" Her voice was slightly wavering, but it held though.

"Well, I wasn't expecting anything crazy to happen between then and now."

"It doesn't matter," Layla smoothed down the wrinkles that were in her skirt from being folded up in her bag all day, "Grandpa has been trying to come to terms with everything and he said he wanted some alone time. I know that if I go home, the silence is going to drive me crazy and I'm just going to bug him. Not to mention, Spencer already texted me the restaurant and he's going to be there soon, and I would feel terrible if I cancelled this late." Marissa chewed on the inside of her lip as Layla gathered the rest of her things, shrugging on her coat.

"Are you going to tell him about the baby?"

"I haven't decided yet, I know I'm going to tell him eventually but you're right, everything has been a little crazy and I might wait."

"I wouldn't wait, you need to know how he feels about it now, the last thing I want for you is to fall head over heels for this guy and have him tuck tail and run the second he finds out you're pregnant." Layla sighed, not wanting to envision that.

"I'm not going to fall 'head over heels.'"

"I don't know, you did willingly go back to his place and sleep with him, when's the last time you even let a man hold your hand?" Layla opened her mouth to retort, but Marissa cut her off, "one that you're not related to or have known for more than a year." Layla didn't have a response to that.

"I still don't think I'm going to get too attached from this point to when I tell him. I just…"

"I get it, it's hard. But its not just about you anymore, you could get away with avoiding confrontation and difficult situations when it was just you to worry about. But he needs to know because it's his baby too, not to mention, you need to figure out his family medical history, so the doctors know what their dealing with, When I was pregnant with Skyler, they wanted as far back as my grandparents." Layla hadn't even thought of that. "And if he does decide to stay in the picture, you need to tell him about your batshit crazy family so he's not walking in blind."

"It's only my parents. Everyone else isn't that bad."

"You just think that because you compare everyone else to your parents and they're the only ones that hit you." Layla flinched at the bluntness of Marissa's words. "If my aunts and uncles and cousins treated me the way they treat you, save Macy, Anthony, their spouses and kids; they're beautiful creatures, I would have decked someone by now." Marissa could see Layla begin to pick at her fingertips and chew on the inside of her cheek, "I don't mean to get you all worked up before your date, but you need to hold your ground because the second these people realize you're pregnant…trust me when I say people lose their mind, manners, boundaries, and just overall filters. You remember Noah's mother when we told her about Skyler."

"I just…I need to tell my Grandfather, but he's already going though a lot."

"I think Eliot would be over the moon, this would be his first great-grand baby and will be a nice distraction. You know he adores you."

"This timing is terrible."

"Timing is always terrible. You just got suck it up and roll with the punches. I would try and get that restraining order in place before you tell anyone else besides Eliot, the last thing you need is your parents causing issues." Layla nodded, agreeing fully with her.

"Okay, I'm going to be late. I'll call you after I get home." Layla gave Marissa one last pathetic excuse of a smile and left the room before Marissa could add anything else.

The drive to the place Spencer picked out was thankfully, quick. She was going the opposite way of everyone else, so she managed to make it with a few seconds to spare. Layla was hoping it was warm inside and her prayers were answered.

"How many?" The hostess asked, smiling at Layla over the podium, her fingers resting on a stack of menus. Layla peered around the girl, looking around the main floor. She spotted Spencer's frame in the back corner of the restaurant.

"Umm…my party's in the back corner." Layla pointed to the man. The hostess, her name tag reading Tracy, looked over her shoulder as well.

"Alright! Have a great time!" Layla smiled at her again before moving around her and quickly making her way to the table. Spencer saw her before she reached the middle of the room and stood to greet her.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." Layla said before he could say anything.

"I haven't been here long." He grinned tightly, not really knowing what to do. He pulled her chair out for her, he knew to do that much after reading a few books on making the best first impression possible. Of course, Morgan hadn't let him hear the end of it after catching Spencer reading them. "You look great."

"Thank you. You do as well." She said, making sure her dress was underneath her thighs as she sat down, smoothing out the top once she got situated.

"Of course, Um- I ordered you a water, I wasn't sure what you wanted to drink."

"Waters great." Silence followed after that, neither one knowing what to say. Layla took a generous sip of her water, glancing around the restaurant. Italian was her grandfather's favorite. The thought of her grandfather brought back the same thing she's been thinking all day, thinking of what her life without him would look like, then Marissa's words came back to her.

Spencer was watching her face closely, he could tell she was upset despite her smile when she walked in, but he didn't have a clue as to what was causing it. "Is everything okay?" He asked carefully, not wanting to upset her more, but at the same time, he wanted to make sure that he wasn't the source of her discomfort.

"Yeah." She said quickly, too quickly. "Everything's fine…just a long day at work."

"How long have you been working there?" Spencer saw the opening for a conversation and he took it.

"Umm, about six months. I used to work in the mall, but my manager was a creep, so my friend got me in at Hooters." She took another large gulp of her drink. "Its not the best job, but it pays the bills." She crossed her legs to keep her foot from bouncing, noticing Spencer's intense focus on her. She hadn't remembered him being like this that night. Then she remembered that he studied human behavior for a living. "How long have you been with the FBI?"

"About 5 years." He said, and Layla frowned.

"How old are you?" She hadn't really thought about it, he was old enough to be drinking in the club and that was all she'd been worried about. But he didn't look that old and she had no idea how old you hand to be in order to work for the FBI, but I probably took a lot of schooling and that could/should take a long time.

"27." Layla's eyebrows shot up, she hadn't been expecting that. "How old are you?"

"21, wait, if your 27 and you've been with them for five years, then you would have been…" she did the math in her head.

"22," he finished for her. "22 is the age requirement but normally the trainees are older due to the need of a bachelor's degree." That didn't seem as crazy to her then it had in the beginning.

"What's your degree in?"

"I have PhDs in Mathematics, Chemistry and Engineering and BA's in Psychology and Sociology." Layla almost spit out her water. Alright, this guy is officially out of my league. Layla had barely managed to graduate high school, let alone get into college and obtain a degree.

"You're 27 and you have five degrees…are you like a genus or something?"

"I don't think intelligence should be measured like that but, by definition, yes. I have an eidetic memory." Layla looked at him with wide eyes. Spencer was trying really hard to keep himself from intimidating her. It was a reaction that people often had when he told them about his 'gifts', but he could see it on her face clearly. She either had a very difficult time hiding her emotions on her face or she just wasn't trying to, Spencer didn't know her well enough to tell the difference.

"Hi." They're waiter seemed to appear out of nowhere, making Layla jump. "Are you guys ready to order?" Spencer looked to Layla, he already knew what he wanted, but she hadn't even opened her menu yet.

"Uhhh." Layla opened it quickly and skimmed the page, "the Chicken Alfredo looks good." Spencer ordered the same thing and the waiter left just as fast as he came. Layla turned her attention back to Spencer.

"Okay…so eidetic memory is when you can remember everything right? Like an elephant?" He smiled at the comparison.

"Kind of…I can remember everything I read verbatim, some things that I see or hear might fall though the cracks."

"So, you could recite full length novels if you wanted to."

"I can." Layla's slightly confused/intimidated face was suddenly replaced with a huge smile.

"That's awesome!" She seemed to sit up straighter in her seat. "Trivia night with you must be a lot of fun."

"It depends, my friends get a little tired of it sometimes." He could feel his face going a little red. He scratched the back of his neck. Layla thought it was cute. Things were quiet for a few moments after that. Would the baby be that smart? Of course, it didn't matter if they were or they weren't, but she wondered. Thinking of the baby, her light mood dropped dramatically. Marissa was right, Layla was staring to like the idea of him. Spencer noticed her change in mood almost immediately.

"I…um- okay." She squared her shoulders a little, trying to take in some of Marissa's 'take no BS' personality as she tried to word what she needed to say. "Before you and I…god this is difficult. I just want to preface this by saying….I don't expect anything from you and I understand that when we met in that night and we…spent the night together, you probably weren't expecting to see me again so…." Spencer was thoroughly confused. Layla took a deep breath, like whatever she was trying to say would have to be forced from her lips. "I'm pregnant." She watched his face carefully. Her foot was bouncing a mile a minute, her fingers picking at the skin around her nails.

"You're…" Spencer hadn't thought about pregnancy, though he should have, but the idea just hadn't crossed his mind. Maybe it had been wishful thinking, maybe he was just oblivious to the possibility. "Are you sure?" Spencer felt his face get hot, not because he was embarrassed but because his heart started beating faster and he couldn't envision himself with a kid, especially not with a girl he knew next to nothing about.

"Yes, I had a blood test done at the clinic a few days ago. I…I wasn't sure what I was going to do about it at first, I thought about getting an abortion but I…I don't think I can do it." Spencer didn't know what to say, he was just kind of frozen in place. "You're the only person I've been with in the last three years…" She added. Spencer was still at a loss for words, but he was saved by the water coming back with their food.

Layla ate the food silently, not wanting to push him to say anything, but it was too awkward for her. She should have waited, things were just starting to become more laid back.

Spencer did the math in his head. She would be about 8 weeks. 8 weeks, that meant in about 32 weeks there would be a baby, a crying, viable baby. Layla watched the emotions on his face, she recognized confusion, fear, and an array of other things.

"I um…." Spencer drank down half of his drink. "I don't…" He stumbled over his words. "I don't want you to get an abortion." He said it after another round of facial expressions that Layla couldn't read. Spencer noticed her chewing on the inside of her lip. "I just."

"Yeah…" Layla echoed his tone. "I get it. I wasn't…." She poked at a piece of chicken with her fork. "It's been a crazy few weeks." At that point, Layla didn't know if it was just the way he was looking at her or if it was just her reaction to everything that's happened in the last week, but she felt her walls start to crack and she quickly wiped the tears out of her eyes before they had a chance to fall. She really didn't feel like breaking down in a crowed restaurant. "Excuse me for a second." She stood up to go into the bathroom, but Spencer jumped up right next to her, grabbing her arm.

"No, wait," he thought she was leaving, "I'll pay, and we can go for a walk or something." Layla really didn't want to break down in front of him either, but she had a hard time telling people 'no', so she didn't say anything and just let him do it. The waiter gave them boxes, going out of his way not to stare at the tear tracks that were going down her face and rushed Spencer's payment though. Layla saw him give the waiter a rather large tip and they left.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading! hope you enjoyed it!  
This story is set around season 3


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